The Morning Skate for Monday, March 21st

Bullet points for what you missed while dreaming of the first full day of spring...

• ??? 8 goals? Apparently. Habs 8, Wild 1.So much to love. A PFK hat trick. A Gordie Howe hat trick for BlanCHe Dubois. A solid backup goalie performance. Hell, even CHicken played well. 40 wins (more than all last year) with 9 games still to play. Nipping at Boston's heels (again. sigh.) A significant bounce back from the Rangers game, we'd have to say, even if it was just the Wild. More later;
• Matt Cooke! Cheap shot! To the head! We know that's hard to believe. It wasn't enough to beat the Rangers tho who get a 5-2 win over the Pens;
• The Sabres get a precious point (or lost a precious point, depending on if you're a half full or half empty type) in the fight for 8th with a 4-3(OT) loss to the Preds thanks to Boom Boom's grandson's hat trick;
• Brodeur with a shutout as the Devils now sniffing the Leaf's derriere in the standings;
• In the Deathmatch for 8th in the West, The Ducks beat the Flames in OT 5-4;
• Something happening in Phoenix / Glendale that smells fishy somehow;
• Jack Todd puts the Cooke hit in the broader context.

Normally I'd be stoked to post long-form video highlights after an 8-1 win, but Bob Cold is a fucking embarrassment here. He's more excited for the penalty shot goal that breaks the shutout than all the Habs goals combined. And he must have been literally asleep during PFK's highlight reeler. Still, a kick ass start to the week.